"If they want a monster so badly they ought to be provided by one." Margaret Atwood, Alias Grace
Running with the Boys
Chapter XXV: The Monsters
"Stop!" The bald man shouted, he skidded to a stop as a line of bullets cut him off. Laney smiled at her sister, Wren's machine gun smoked as she switched her mod out. Another one loaded as his men stopped, Laney scanned the line. Most of them still wore Monaghan Prisoner uniforms, they held makeshift weapons in their hands. A few held guns, old and outdated, but still in working order.
"Focus on us, baldy!" Wren shouted. "We're ready to party."
"And we don't play nice." Laney smiled. "Now tell us, why did you come to our desert?"
The man smirked. "I came to see family."
"Did you really have to bring your entourage?" Wren asked.
Laney swung her axe, stretching her muscles. She looked to the man and his friends. "Seems like a task you could've made without your friends."
The man looked behind him. "These men aren't my entourage. They're my soldiers."
"You're going to attack Spargus?" Wren laughed. "I'm sorry, are you planning on dying today?"
"Let's give him the benefit of the doubt," Laney snapped. "Maybe he's here to help."
"Help?" Wren shouted. "Are you insane? He shot at our brother!"
"Many people have been doing that lately." Laney sighed. "It could be a trend."
The man laughed. "So, the hothead is Wren and the naïve one is Laney."
"I AM NOT HOTHEADED!" Wren shouted, Dark Eco sparked from her body. "Get out of our desert!" Wren shouted again.
"No." The bald man snarled. "I rather enjoy it here, I think I'll stay. Although, the directions you gave me are quite vague, want to escort me to the front doors?"
"We're busy." Wren snapped.
He smirked. "I wasn't asking."
"And she wasn't asking you nicely." Laney mocked. "Believe me, I know."
The bald man waved to his men, "Attack."
The twins sighed, Wren cocked her gun. "I call left," Wren whispered.
"Like always," Laney responded.
"Like always," Wren repeated.
The men ran towards them, Laney spun her ax before running towards the right flank. The men stopped and began firing their guns, Laney held up her shield -the bullets bounced off her blue shield as she swung her axe into the men. They fall to the ground, screaming and crying. She threw it into the dirt, her sniper rifle was smooth and lightweight. The men were ants to her, each one snuffed out through her god's eye. She swung her rifle over her shoulder, she ran down the line, jumping over the bodies and skidding to a stop on her knees. Her Light Eco shot out around her like a fog, eclipsing all her enemies.
She looked towards the small blip of Dark Eco in her vision. Wren slashed through a herd of guards, her claws and fangs out, she had a smile on her face as she tore a man apart. Her eyes slid to her sister, Wren gave her a wink as the Light Eco was snuffed out.
Wren loved it when her sister stopped time, the ultimate weapon against their enemy. She watched Laney blur past all the men, her movements were swift and dangerous. When her state became physical again, the men collapsed to the ground, axe markings covering their bodies. Wren might've been a brutal fighter, but Laney was a vicious warrior, but she was trained by Sig.
"What are you?" A man cried, he backed into his men behind him. "There was a man during the Dark Wars, he did the same thing. He turned into a monster, grey skin and black eyes."
Wren gasped. "A monster you say?"
"Yes, do you know him?"
Wren grinned. "Oh yes, that monster used to tuck me in at night," She jumped high into the air. She slammed into the ground, a crater grew around her. She smiled devilishly as the Dark Eco ran through all of them, the men fell to the ground as she pulled out her gun. She knelt and fired at the men who jumped off the ship, they clearly didn't see the sisters bring down the first wave. Wren watched as Laney flew up to into the air, Wren smirked and climbed a pillar.
"Laney!" Wren shouted.
The sister turned, Laney flew towards Wren and grabbed her wrists. "I hate using this attack," Laney spoke into Wren's head.
"If you're worried about the cleanup effort, I'm sure Sig'll understand."
"Just don't make me do all the work."
"Oh don't worry, I'm having too much fun to let you enjoy this by yourself." Wren let go of her sister, she freefell towards the ground. She held a ball of Dark Eco in her hand, it sparked and spidered around her. The men below her ran, all screaming as Laney flew to the ground. She held up her shield with both hands, she smiled through the shield to her sister as Wren slammed Dark Eco against Light Eco. The blinding light washed over all the men around them, Dark and Light Eco ripping into them as the Ecos gave a deafening roar.
Wren sat up from her crater, she saw some of the men laying on the ground trembling, while others weren't moving at all. "We did it!" She cheered. "Laney? Laney!" She called.
"Get off of me!" Laney shouted.
Wren smiled down at her sister. "Hey Lanes, how'd you get down there?"
Laney shoved her twin off her. "How? HOW? Once again you landed on me! How hard is it to aim when you're in beast mode?"
"I am not a beast!" Wren shouted. "And I aimed perfectly, you moved!"
"I did not!"
"Did too!"
"So, this is what having a sibling is like?" Both girls turned, the bald man stood at the edge of the crater. He only smiled down at them, Wren pulled out her sniper as the rim of the crater was surrounded by more men. Laney slowly stood, Light Eco fluttered to life at her fingertips. "Now this is where you surrender, girls." The man smirked. "Or I'll have to take you by force."
Wren stood too, pointing her sniper at the man. "I can take him out."
"Don't." Laney whispered. "There are at least a hundred guns trained on us."
"Laney..." Wren whispered back. "We can't just sit here."
"We need to plan." Laney snapped.
"No we need to-"
"WREN!" The green-haired sister turned to the cries of her twin. Her sister, her other half was on her back, being dragged up the side of the crater. Ropes wrapped around Laney's middle and across her chest, she kicked at the rocks and Light Eco bloomed around her. Wren could feel her stopping time, trying, struggling to get out of the ropes. Wren ran to her sister, reaching out for her hand. They were always so in sync, breathing, heartbeats, and movements. They shared the same pain, sometimes even saying what the other was thinking.
This time, Wren's fingers grazed Laney's, feeling the thin ring Kaster Praxis had given her. It was simple and chrome, no one had taken notice to it. It was just another of Laney's rings.
Wren fell face first into the dirt, she got to her feet in seconds. Her training taking over as she pulled her sniper out and pointed it at her enemy. It was an older man, a man she considered a friend, a person she somewhat trusted.
"Kleiver?" Wren shouted. "What the Hell, man you're supposed to be on our side?!"
Laney kicked out at the old man. "I'm going to blast you into next year, you old bastard!"
"Girls, girls," Veger chuckled from Kleiver's shoulder. "It's just business. You see, someone has offered us a bigger slice of the pie and we couldn't help ourselv-" He grunted as Laney kicked him, sending him flying across the crater.
"Now," The bald man began. "Wren, will you come with us or are we gonna have to come down there and get you?"
"Run!" Laney shouted. "Get out of here!"
"I'm not leaving you," Wren shouted back. "But I'm not going down without a fight." She pointed up at the bald man. "Come and get me, work for your hostage."
The bald man smiled. "Gladly." Took out his gun and fired towards Kleiver, the man shouted and jumped back, dropping Laney.
"No!" Wren screamed as Laney rolled down the edge of the crater towards her, she held out her arms and caught her sister. They fell into the dirt together as Laney cried, Wren pressed her hands against her wound. Blood pulsed through her fingers, streaking her hands red and black with dirt. Wren looked to her twin, Laney's eyes flashed white before settling back to green.
"It's not working!" Laney shouted, she hit her head. "C'mon! Work!" She shouted again, hitting her head again.
"What's wrong?" Wren asked.
"I can't find it." Laney grounded out through her clenched teeth. "I can't find my Eco."
"What do you mean?"
"I can't... find it... it's just..." Laney stammered, grabbing her sister's arm. "It's just... darkness."
"Good." The bald man purred, he walked cautiously towards the sisters. Kleiver and Veger flanked his left side, while several men with guns flanked his right. Wren leaned protectively over her sister, her anger flared in her chest like a sparkler. She felt her fangs dig into her bottom lip as he crouched down to their level. "This is exactly what I wanted."
She glared at him. "Who are you?"
He smiled. "I don't have a grand name like yours, Wren and Laney Mar. The Praxis name seems tainted with choices from the past. Krew and Mizo are only for the royals of Kras. Just call me Jace."
"One of your men threw himself off a cliff to get away from you."
The man, Jace, shrugged. "I would too." He glanced over his shoulder. "Can you bring me the artifact?"
"Of course, Jace." Kleiver answered. He slipped into the crowd, the men around him murmured as Jace studied them.
"What was it like?" Jace asked, he looked between the twins. "To grow up in the sunshine, to grow up without feeling you were broken?"
Wren looked down at Laney, her breathing was shallow and she getting pale. Wren unbuckled her belt, she pulled it off and wrapped it around Laney's leg. Pulling it tight enough until she heard her yelp, she buckled it into place and pulled her against her chest. Wren scooted both of them back from Jace, kicking at the dirt before she rested against the side of the crater.
"You," Jace began, pointing to Laney. "You love Kaster," He held up his left hand. "I saw your ring, does your Daddy know?"
"He will." Laney whispered.
"Maybe not soon enough?" He glanced over his shoulder, Kleiver walked towards him with a pointed sceptre. Dark Eco sparked off it, Wren kicked back from Kleiver, pulling Laney with her. Kleiver spun the sceptre in his hands, smirking at Wren as he got closer. Jace stayed in place, watching the sisters as Laney fumbled around on her belt. The Dark Eco sparked widly as he got closer to Wren, she felt a spark leave her body. Hitting the sceptre, igniting it with her own energy. She pushed Laney away, she couldn't let the Eco touch Laney.
"How did you get a pure Dark Eco crystal?" Laney whispered.
"Camille Praxis."
"Ok how did Camille get it?" Wren shouted.
Jace shrugged. "How am I supposed to know?"
"Should I do it, boss?" Kleiver asked.
Hold on," Jace raised a hand to stop him. "I'll give you a chance, ditch Kaster and Vidia's pledge and I'll let you ride shotgun."
"How 'bout you eat your shotgun?" Wren snapped.
Jace shrugged. "Well, I tried." He looked to Kleiver and nodded. "Do it."
Kleiver rushed at Wren, she grabbed the sceptre with both her hands and held it in front of her. Kleiver pushed against her, Wren fell back against the dirt. She held it above her as the insides of the crystal began to swirl, like an oncoming lightning storm it sparked at Wren. She tried to push back against Kleiver but he shoved it down, the metal pole slipped out of her hands and the tip touched her skin. The pain took her breath away, she grabbed at the sceptre but her shaking hands couldn't move it. The pain and Dark Eco raged under her skin, eating away at her strength and will to fight.
Too quickly, it lured her into a sleep that was not restful.
TBC...
Author's Note
Annnd I'm back! November was... interesting. This chapter is for Ways, they wanted a chapter where we'd see more of Wren and Laney's powers. Here it is! I really hoped you liked it. And as always, don't forget to review. With Love, Paradise Eco.